Mission
Our mission is to eliminate health disparities and foster community well-being by providing and promoting the highest quality care in South Los Angeles.
Vision
St. John’s Well Child and Family Center will be a leader, catalyst, and model for the best care; long-term community health improvements; and sustainable, health-enhancing systems and structures in Los Angeles.
Values
Dignity: We honor and respect every person we encounter—whether patient, colleague, or community member—as a valued part of the human family.
Excellence: We support and champion the best standard of care, personal and professional growth, accountability, creativity, teamwork, and a steadfast commitment to quality.
Well-being: We promote and advocate for the full integration of our patients’ physical and mental health in order to enable them to participate in their own health improvement and become active and responsible members of a vibrant and just community.
Social Justice: We collaborate with others to develop systems, organizations and programs to advance equity and fairness in allocating community resources, and to empower and address the needs of all community members, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members.
History
St. John’s Well Child and Family Center (SJWCFC) began as a one-room volunteer-operated clinic in 1964 in response to poverty and disturbing health inequalities for the vulnerable, underserved South L.A. residents. In 1993 the Board of Directors hired CEO James Mangia to expand the clinic and forge links with the broader health care delivery system. In 2002, the Board broadened the patient base to include adult family members of pediatric patients. One year later, the U.S. Bureau of Primary Health Care awarded FQHC status to SJWCFC, qualifying the agency for significant funding streams, enhanced patient reimbursement funds, FTCA insurance coverage, National Health Service Corps providers, and discounted pharmaceuticals. As of 2018 SJWCFC has seventeen federally qualified safety-net health care centers (FQHCs), including five school-based health centers, a health center in a public housing development and two mobile clinics, located throughout South Los Angeles (L.A), California. SJWCFC is one of the largest health care safety-net providers in Los Angeles, serving low-income patients of all ages.
Over the years, SJWCFC has expanded its services and programs to continue to help bridge the gaps in access and quality care in South L.A. The organization’s core programs and services are provided in a medical home setting and include: family planning; prenatal and post-delivery care; well baby and well child services; children with special needs care; women’s health; routine screening for disease indicators; chronic disease management; immunizations; homeless health care; residents of public housing program; reentry program; HIV/AIDS and HCV care; transgender health; laboratory procedures; oral health services and dental health education; mental health individual and group counseling; substance abuse screening and counseling; teen reproductive health programs; literacy programs; home remediation of harmful environmental health risks; community outreach; case management; health education; and insurance benefits counseling and enrollment. All of St. John’s programs and services are offered on a sliding fee scale; no one is turned away without ability to pay.
While primary health care provision is the cornerstone of our work, St. John’s goes beyond the traditional health care model to address the social determinants of health, framing them within a health and human rights context. We have established and continue to build strong partnerships with health, educational, social service and community-based and government agencies to deliver a wide range of services that are responsive to community needs.
